Comment is free + Serbia | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+world/serbia
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Balkan nationalism has been reawoken by the attack of the drone | Andrej Nikolaidishttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/15/balkan-nationalism-drone-football-serbia-albania
This ill-tempered ‘football war’ between Serbia and Albania will end like every other Balkan conflict – with no clear winner and arguments over who started it<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.guprod.gnl/football/2014/oct/15/serbia-albania-violence-uefa-inquiry-drone" title="">Serbia v Albania violence: Uefa opens inquiry</a><p>All in all, it was just another brick in the wall of good old Balkan nationalism. But this time, it came with the twist: the dark, medieval ideology was launched on a hi-tech gadget. It is certainly not the worst way that drones can be used – as people in Pakistan and Afghanistan, living in fear of blue skies and US drone-bombers, might confirm – but the drone that flew across Belgrade’s Partizan Stadium during <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/14/serbia-albania-euro-2016-flag-halted" title="">a football match between Serbia and Albania on Tuesday</a> was still intended to do harm. The game, a Euro 2016 qualifying match, was the first time Albania’s national side had visited Belgrade since 1967. Tensions were running high because of the Serbian-Albanian <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/jun/23/violence-kosovo-mitrovica-serbs-albanians-video" title="">conflict over Kosovo</a>, which has a majority Albanian population and declared independence from Serbia in 2008.</p><p>First reports said that the drone came from the roof of a nearby church. It was carrying <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2014/oct/15/serbia-albania-drone-brawl-video" title="">the flag of “Greater Albania”</a>, the dream of Albanian nationalists. Greater Albania is supposed to comprise today’s Albania and Kosovo, but also to include parts of four more independent Balkan states: Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. It’s pretty much the same concept as the notorious Greater Serbia project – “all Serbs/Albanians in one ethnic state” – the reason the Balkans was burning two decades ago. So, if anyone thinks that the Balkans is tired of nationalist madness, destruction and the confirmation of so-called Balkan stereotypes ... well, we’re not. It seems that the Balkans never fail to prove the theory that the one willing to bet on the worst in men will always win.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/15/balkan-nationalism-drone-football-serbia-albania">Continue reading...</a>SerbiaAlbaniaFootballSportAlbaniaEuropeWorld newsSerbiaWed, 15 Oct 2014 15:50:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/15/balkan-nationalism-drone-football-serbia-albaniaPhotograph: Darko Vojinovic/APSerbia's Nemanja Gudelj, left, holds a flag as he and Albania's Bekim Balaj, centre, clash during the Euro 2016 qualifying match between Serbia and Albania. Photograph: Darko Vojinovic/APPhotograph: Darko Vojinovic/APSerbia's Nemanja Gudelj, left, holds a flag as he and Albania's Bekim Balaj, centre, clash during the Euro 2016 qualifying match between Serbia and Albania. Photograph: Darko Vojinovic/APAndrej Nikolaidis2014-10-15T15:50:31ZRadovan Karadžić awaits his verdict, but this is two-tier international justice | Ed Vulliamyhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/30/radovan-karadzic-verdict-international-justice
The ex-Bosnian Serb leader has been prosecuted, yet the war crimes tribunal resists calls to indict others<p>There he was, on the other&nbsp;side of the bullet-proof glass: Radovan Karadžić himself, inches away, accused of genocide and other war crimes across Bosnia during the 1990s. He saluted me with an entwinement of avuncular cordiality and cold-like-ice.</p><p>This was an “interview” to which Karadžić, defendant at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, is entitled before his prosecutors called me as a witness, back in 2010. During cross-examination, Karadžić posited the bizarre notion that only ONE person had died in the infamous <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/08/bosnia-camps-ed-vulliamy" title="">concentration camp at Omarska</a> it had been my curse to uncover in 1992.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/30/radovan-karadzic-verdict-international-justice">Continue reading...</a>Radovan KaradzicInternational criminal tribunal for the former YugoslaviaInternational criminal courtInternational criminal justiceSerbiaBosnia-HerzegovinaWar crimesWorld newsEuropeLawHuman rightsTue, 30 Sep 2014 19:15:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/30/radovan-karadzic-verdict-international-justicePhotograph: /GuardianIllustration by Belle MellorPhotograph: /GuardianIllustration by Belle MellorEd Vulliamy2014-09-30T19:15:07ZUnder the surface of the Balkan floods lies a social disaster | Srecko Horvathttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/22/balkan-floods-social-disaster-former-yugoslavia
People from across the former Yugoslavia were helping one another, but their governments enabled the tragedy<p>Imagine the following scenario. Catastrophic floods have hit your country. More than 100,000 houses are toppled or submerged in mud. Over a million people are affected by the disaster.</p><p>At the same time, one of your country's richest businessmen decides to take his wife to London. But this was just to deceive her. In fact, the real destination was Copenhagen. When she arrived, she found 80 friends had come too, and French musicians Nouvelle Vague and the British band Suede were performing. No, they weren't fleeing the floods. It was her 50th birthday, and her husband, Emil Tedeschi, had decided to surprise her.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/22/balkan-floods-social-disaster-former-yugoslavia">Continue reading...</a>FloodingWorld newsNatural disasters and extreme weatherEnvironmentSerbiaEuropeBosnia-HerzegovinaCroatiaThu, 22 May 2014 13:38:28 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/22/balkan-floods-social-disaster-former-yugoslaviaDado Ruvic/ReutersBosnian volunteers help in the clean-up after floods in the town of Maglaj. Photograph: Dado Ruvic/ReutersDado Ruvic/ReutersBosnian volunteers help in the clean-up after floods in the town of Maglaj. Photograph: Dado Ruvic/ReutersSrecko Horvat2014-05-22T13:38:28ZFloods have united the people of the Balkans | Andrej Nikolaidishttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/20/floods-people-balkans-yugoslavia
Catastrophe has again struck the former Yugoslavia – but this time we are not killing each other but helping each other<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/18/serbia-bosnia-flooding-thousands-flee-river-sava" title="">The floods came</a> like a thief in the night, just as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2007/oct/04/theatre" title="">the Red Death</a> did in Edgar Allan Poe's story. They hit hard, as if their aim was to establish an &quot;illimitable dominion over all&quot;. The flooded territory in the former Yugoslavia is currently larger than the state of Israel, Kuwait or EU member state Slovenia. The part of Bosnia underwater is the size of Montenegro. There, one million people are affected by the floods.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/20/floods-people-balkans-yugoslavia">Continue reading...</a>FloodingSerbiaEuropeWorld newsBosnia-HerzegovinaMontenegroNatural disasters and extreme weatherEnvironmentTue, 20 May 2014 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/20/floods-people-balkans-yugoslaviaAndrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesVolunteers and police officers pass sandbags to reinforce the bank of the river Sava near Sabac, west of Belgrade. Photograph: Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesAndrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesVolunteers and police officers pass sandbags to reinforce the bank of the river Sava near Sabac, west of Belgrade. Photograph: Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesAndrej Nikolaidis2014-05-20T10:00:00ZUkraine's fallen statues of Lenin are not just a rejection of Russia | Srecko Horvathttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/16/ukraine-lenin-statues-rejection-russia-eu
Some attack them and others guard them. Yet if Ukrainians looked at Yugoslavia, they'd see neither Russia nor the EU is the way forward<p>A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of Lenin.</p><p>Back in 2011 Ukraine was preparing to host Euro 2012. The government decided to release a promotional video titled Switch On Ukraine. Among the sites shown in the video was Liberty Square in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv. But something was missing. When the sun rose over the square, instead of an 8.5 metre-high statue of Lenin there was only an empty plinth. Someone had <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1357680/Goodbye-Lenin-Statue-Soviet-leader-digitally-erased-Ukraines-promo-video-Euro-2012.html" title="">digitally erased the politically problematic icon</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/16/ukraine-lenin-statues-rejection-russia-eu">Continue reading...</a>UkraineRussiaEuropean UnionEuropeSerbiaWorld newsCroatiaBosnia-HerzegovinaSun, 16 Mar 2014 15:59:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/16/ukraine-lenin-statues-rejection-russia-euDarko Vojinovic/AP'The fight in Ukraine is not only a fight over closer ties with Russia or the EU. It’s a fight over Lenin’s heritage.' Photograph: Darko Vojinovic/APDarko Vojinovic/AP'The fight in Ukraine is not only a fight over closer ties with Russia or the EU. It’s a fight over Lenin’s heritage.' Photograph: Darko Vojinovic/APSrećko Horvat2014-03-16T15:59:21ZAnger in Bosnia, but this time the people can read their leaders' ethnic lies | Slavoj Žižekhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/10/anger-bosnia-ethnic-lies-protesters-bosnian-serb-croat
Protesters were carrying three flags side by side – Bosnian, Serb and Croat, brought together by a radical demand for justice<p>Last week, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/07/bosnia-herzegovina-wave-violent-protests" title="">cities were burning</a> in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It all began in Tuzla, a city with a Muslim majority. The protests then spread to the capital, Sarajevo, and Zenica, but also Mostar, home to a large segment of the Croat population, and Banja Luka, capital of the Serb part of Bosnia. Thousands of enraged protesters occupied and set fire to government buildings. Although the situation then calmed down, an atmosphere of high tension still hangs in the air.</p><p>The events gave rise to conspiracy theories (for example, that the Serb government had organised the protests to topple the Bosnian leadership), but one should safely ignore them since it is clear that, whatever lurks behind, the protesters' despair is authentic. One is tempted to paraphrase Mao Zedong's famous phrase here: there is chaos in Bosnia, the situation is excellent!</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/10/anger-bosnia-ethnic-lies-protesters-bosnian-serb-croat">Continue reading...</a>Bosnia-HerzegovinaCroatiaSerbiaEuropeWorld newsMon, 10 Feb 2014 16:07:26 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/10/anger-bosnia-ethnic-lies-protesters-bosnian-serb-croatSulejman Omerbasic/ Sulejman Omerbasic/Demotix/Corbis'The protesters' despair is authentic. One is tempted to paraphrase Mao Zedong: there is chaos in Bosnia, the situation is excellent!' Photograph: Sulejman Omerbasic/CorbisSulejman Omerbasic/ Sulejman Omerbasic/Demotix/Corbis'The protesters' despair is authentic. One is tempted to paraphrase Mao Zedong: there is chaos in Bosnia, the situation is excellent!' Photograph: Sulejman Omerbasic/CorbisSlavoj Žižek2014-02-10T16:07:26ZI hope Syria will not suffer western intervention – I have lived it | Jasmina Tesanovichttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/16/syria-western-intervention-belgrade
In Belgrade in 1999, as the air-raids became regular and widespread, we lived on instinct, and in constant fear<p>None of my friends in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/dec/13/belgrade-from-our-correspondent" title="">Belgrade believed that the west would bomb us</a>. They considered themselves modern big-city Europeans, but my father thought otherwise. He was a second world war veteran, and during his lifetime he had stockpiled food, petrol and medicines. Now I look to Damascus, and I wonder how they are feeling about western intervention. I could tell them.</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/16/syria-western-intervention-belgrade">Continue reading...</a>SerbiaNatoSyriaEuropeWorld newsKosovoHumanitarian responseMon, 16 Sep 2013 13:59:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/16/syria-western-intervention-belgradeStringer/EPAFirefighters tackle the burning Serbian interior ministry building in downtown Belgrade after a Nato cruise missile attack, in April 1999. Photograph: Stringer/EPAStringer/EPABelgrade fire brigades tackle the burning Serbian interior ministry building in downtown Belgrade after a Nato cruise missile attack, in April 1999. Photograph: Stringer/EPAJasmina Tesanovic2013-09-16T13:59:00ZWe glimpse in Syria the ghost of wars to come | Timothy Garton Ashhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/25/syria-ghost-of-wars-to-come-balkans
In the Balkans, outsiders stepped in to finally halt the misery. But this is a different kind of conflict<p>'Never again!&quot; we cry. After the second world war. After <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/12/rwanda-genocide-bloody-legacy-angloamerican-guilt" title="">Rwanda</a>. After <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/08/bosnia-camps-ed-vulliamy" title="">Bosnia</a>. Then it happens again. And again. According to the latest estimates, close to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/06/syria-crisis-bashar-al-assad-middle-east" title="">70,000 people have died</a> in Syria's raging civil and proxy war, with more than 4 million Syrians needing humanitarian assistance, some 2 million internally displaced and perhaps as many as 1.5 million refugees outside the country. <a href="http://www.unicef.org.uk/UNICEFs-Work/Emergencies/syrian-arab-republic-syria/" title="">Unicef</a> says the needy and displaced include nearly 3 million children. Already, this is one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies in recent times. If it is not stopped, those numbers are expected to rise rapidly. Soon we will have Somalia on the Mediterranean.</p><p>The population of Syria when this armed conflict started in 2011 was roughly that of Yugoslavia when its wars began in 1991: some 23 million. Over the subsequent decade of the Yugoslavian wars, more than 100,000 people died and some 4 million were displaced. In just two years, Syria is approaching the harvest of misery for which former Yugoslavia needed 10.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/25/syria-ghost-of-wars-to-come-balkans">Continue reading...</a>SyriaMiddle East and North AfricaIraqBosnia-HerzegovinaEuropeSerbiaWorld newsKosovoThu, 25 Apr 2013 06:01:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/25/syria-ghost-of-wars-to-come-balkansMike Persson/AFP/Getty ImagesA Bosnian soldier returns fire in Sarajevo as Serbian snipers take aim at a peace demonstration in April 1992. Photograph: Mike Persson/AFP/Getty ImagesMike Persson/AFP/Getty ImagesA Bosnian soldier returns fire in Sarajevo as Serbian snipers take aim at a peace demonstration in April 1992. Photograph: Mike Persson/AFP/Getty ImagesTimothy Garton Ash2013-04-25T06:01:18ZFootball's governing bodies must be robust in punishing racism | Observer editorialhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/21/editorial-serbia-racism-football
As we've seen with the Serbia U21 game and with John Terry, meaningless fines and tolerant clubs will not put an end to this shameful behaviour<p>Last week, during a game between the Serbian and England U21 sides in Krusevac, the English defender Danny Rose was the subject of racist taunts from opposing fans. Rose said: &quot;Every time I touched the ball, they were doing monkey chanting. After 60 minutes, my mind wasn't really on the game – I was just so angry.&quot; That anger boiled over at the end of the game when scuffles broke out between the two sides and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/9619429/Danny-Roses-racism-claims-questioned-in-video-posted-by-Serbian-Football-Association-after-England-U21-game.html" title="">Rose was sent off for kicking the ball into the crowd</a> in frustration.</p><p>The Serbian FA's response was to deny that there &quot;were any occurrences of racism before and during the match at the stadium&quot;. But this is a fiction. Journalists heard the chants, England officials heard them and the players heard them. The Football Association presented a formal complaint to Uefa detailing &quot;numerous instances of violence and abuse&quot; aimed at England's black players. A quick search on YouTube and you can see – and hear – the amateur footage taken as the players leave the field. The monkey chants are loud and clear.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/21/editorial-serbia-racism-football">Continue reading...</a>Race issuesJohn TerryDanny RoseUefaFootballRio FerdinandUK newsSerbiaTottenham HotspurMillwallThe FAPortoLazioSat, 20 Oct 2012 23:21:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/21/editorial-serbia-racism-footballEditorial2012-10-20T23:21:00ZRacism in Serbian football fan culture: the establishment fails to act | Jelena Obradovic-Wochinkhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/19/racism-unchallenged-serbian-establishment-football
Racist behaviour in Krusevac drew attention to the wider and more systematic failures of the Serbian political leadership<p>Anyone familiar with the football fan culture of Serbia cannot feign surprise at the latest <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/oct/17/uefa-serbia-international-ban-racism-england" title="">disturbances that took place at the Under-21 Serbia v England international game</a> in Krusevac, during which Serbian fans allegedly chanted racist abuse at the English team. This was unfortunately not an isolated incident, and is unlikely to have been a spontaneous outburst.</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/19/racism-unchallenged-serbian-establishment-football">Continue reading...</a>Race issuesWorld newsEngland Under-21sFootballSerbiaEuropeSerbiaFri, 19 Oct 2012 13:09:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/19/racism-unchallenged-serbian-establishment-footballMiroslav Todorovic/APMilos Ninkovic, Danny Rose during their European Under-21 qualifier between Serbia and England Photograph: Miroslav Todorovic/APMiroslav Todorovic/APMilos Ninkovic, Danny Rose during their European Under-21 qualifier between Serbia and England Photograph: Miroslav Todorovic/APJelena Obradovic-Wochink2012-10-19T13:09:19ZSrebrenica: the silence over Britain's guilt must be ended | Vernon Bogdanorhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/12/srebrenica-massacre-bosnia-and-herzegovina
Douglas Hurd's handling of misguided UK policy on Bosnia contributed to Europe's worst war crime since 1945<p>Seventeen years ago, on 13 July 1995, there began in the former Yugoslavia what Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general, has called the worst war crime in Europe since 1945 – the shooting by Serb forces of about 8,000 unarmed men and boys at <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/11/srebrenica-massacre-victims-laid-rest?newsfeed=true" title="">Srebrenica</a>. The victims' only crime was that they were Muslims.</p><p>&quot;By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims,&quot; Theodor Meron, the presiding judge of the appeals chamber of the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, has declared, &quot;the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity&quot;. The war in the former Yugoslavia led to the killing of about 100,000 people and the displacement of more than 2 million, the vast majority Muslims.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/12/srebrenica-massacre-bosnia-and-herzegovina">Continue reading...</a>Srebrenica massacreBosnia-HerzegovinaSerbiaEuropeUK newsWorld newsThu, 12 Jul 2012 15:45:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/12/srebrenica-massacre-bosnia-and-herzegovinaDavid Lee Bathgate/ David Lee Bathgate/CorbisA Muslim woman grieves at the casket containing remains of a relative killed in the Srebrenica massacre – one of 520 recently identified victims of the massacre who were buried on 11 July. Photograph: David Lee Bathgate/ David Lee Bathgate/CorbisDavid Lee Bathgate/ David Lee Bathgate/CorbisA Muslim woman grieves at the casket containing remains of a relative killed in the Srebrenica massacre – one of 520 recently identified victims of the massacre who were buried on 11 July. Photograph: David Lee Bathgate/ David Lee Bathgate/CorbisVernon Bogdanor2012-07-12T15:45:00ZSerbia's nationalist president won't destabilise the region | Slavenka Drakulićhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/06/serbia-nationalist-president-tomislav-nikolic
Tomislav Nikolic has caused shockwaves by denying the Srebrenica genocide, but surrounding states have little to fear<p>The new Serbian president, Tomislav Nikolic, has managed to issue so many outrageous statements in the short time since he won the election on 20 May, he must have set a world record. First, in an interview for the German newspaper <a href="http://www.faz.net/" title="">Frankfurter Allgemeine</a>, Nikolic said that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/sep/27/warcrimes.davidbatty" title="">Vukovar</a> – a town in Croatia bombed to the ground by the Serb-led army during the war in 1991 – was a <a href="http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/wahl-in-serbien-die-serben-durften-nicht-entscheiden-wo-sie-leben-wollen-11750937.html" title="">Serb town, to which Croats had no right to return</a>. Next he denied ever saying this, instead accusing the Frankfurter Allgemeine correspondent, Michael Martens, of inventing it.</p><p>A few days later I saw a news clip in which he told Montenegrin state TV that there was no genocide in Srebrenica – where 8,000 Bosniak (Muslim) men were killed – despite the massacre having being proclaimed a genocide by both the international court of justice and the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (the UN war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia). Coming from the president of the biggest state in the former Yugoslavia, whose army and paramilitaries, lead by General Ratko Mladic (now on <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/16/ratko-mladic-war-crimes-trial" title="">trial for war crimes</a> at the ICTY), committed Europe's worst slaughter of civilians since the second world war, it's not surprising the statement created a reaction.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/06/serbia-nationalist-president-tomislav-nikolic">Continue reading...</a>SerbiaBosnia-HerzegovinaCroatiaEuropeWorld newsWed, 06 Jun 2012 13:52:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/06/serbia-nationalist-president-tomislav-nikolicDarko Vojinovic/APSerbia's new nationalist president Tomislav Nikolic. Photograph: Darko Vojinovic/APDarko Vojinovic/APSerbia's new nationalist president Tomislav Nikolic. Photograph: Darko Vojinovic/APSlavenka Drakulić2012-06-06T13:52:04ZA lesson from Serbia | Misha Glennyhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/23/extreme-nationalism-serbia-creeping-sickness
As the Balkan economies struggle, the temptation for nationalist solutions will grow. Europe must take note<p>Two weeks after the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/06/greek-voters-austerity-ballot" title="">political earthquake in Greece</a>, Serbia has now registered a powerful aftershock with the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/serbia-president-eu?newsfeed=true" title="">defeat of its incumbent president, Boris Tadic</a>, at the hands of an erstwhile extreme nationalist on Sunday.</p><p>The election may look like a localised Serbian matter but it has the potential to develop into a regional and European problem. Apart from the dramas surrounding the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/16/ratko-mladic-trial-begins-hague" title="">Hague war crimes tribunal,</a> the Balkans region has been away from the limelight for many years now. But several of its most significant political and constitutional problems remain unresolved. And now the corrosive impact of the recession and the eurozone crisis threatens to retoxify some of those unresolved issues.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/23/extreme-nationalism-serbia-creeping-sickness">Continue reading...</a>SerbiaThe far rightEuropean UnionBosnia-HerzegovinaKosovoMacedoniaEurozone crisisFinancial crisisEuroInternational criminal courtInternational criminal justiceWar crimesEuropeLawWorld newsWed, 23 May 2012 19:30:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/23/extreme-nationalism-serbia-creeping-sicknessAndrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesSupporters of Serbia's new president and leader of the Serbian Progressive party (SNS), Tomislav Nikolic, celebrate his victory in the Serbian presidential run-off in Belgrade on 20 May. Photograph: Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesAndrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesSupporters of Serbia's new president and leader of the Serbian Progressive party (SNS), Tomislav Nikolic, celebrate his victory in the Serbian presidential run-off in Belgrade on 20 May. Photograph: Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesMisha Glenny2012-05-23T19:30:01ZThe only way to respond to Ratko Mladic's obscene slit-throat gesture | Slavenka Drakulićhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/17/ratko-mladic-obscene-slit-throat-gesture
Mladic's threat speaks to the politics of ethnic cleansing. Instead of rage, we must ensure such horror never happens again<p>A year after his arrest, the former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, who is accused on 11 accounts for war crimes, finally faces justice <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/16/ratko-mladic-war-crimes-trial-hague" title="">at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)</a>.</p><p>The accusations against him are grave, including the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/17/ratko-mladic-trial-footage-srebrenica?newsfeed=true" title="">genocide committed in Srebrenica in July 1995</a>. The prosecution will try to prove that Mladic ordered the killing of some 8,000 men after the fall of the Bosnian Muslim enclave. If anyone expected some display of remorse for what is now considered the worse war crime in Europe since the second world war, it did not come. Instead, the thumbs-up, the handclaps, a sarcastic smile to the public. No remorse, not from this man. On the contrary, from his behaviour one might doubt if this elderly man fully understands what he did.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/17/ratko-mladic-obscene-slit-throat-gesture">Continue reading...</a>Ratko MladicBosnia-HerzegovinaEuropeWorld newsSerbiaCroatiaInternational criminal tribunal for the former YugoslaviaThu, 17 May 2012 15:19:33 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/17/ratko-mladic-obscene-slit-throat-gestureSIPA / Rex Features/SIPA / Rex FeaturesThe former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic is on trial for war crimes at The Hague, where he has shown no remorse, only disdain. Photograph: SIPA / Rex FeaturesSIPA / Rex Features/SIPA / Rex FeaturesThe former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic is on trial for war crimes at The Hague, where he has shown no remorse, only disdain. Photograph: SIPA / Rex FeaturesSlavenka Drakulić2012-05-17T15:19:33ZCan Hollywood tell the truth about the war in Bosnia? | Slavenka Drakulichttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/17/bosnia-in-the-land-of-blood-and-honey
Angelina Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey was bound to draw controversy when people still live in denial<p>When you decide to shoot a film about a war in the country where that war happened – even if it is long over – you should expect some complications. This is what happened to Angelina Jolie when she decided to film In the Land of Blood and Honey, her directorial debut, in Bosnia last year. Women raped in the war demanded that the authorities forbid her from making it, and especially from filming it in Bosnia. The love story between a raped woman and a perpetrator, they said, could not have happened. So, Jolie proceeded to film in Hungary.</p><p>She would be very naive not to have expected controversy after the film opened in Sarajevo earlier this week. But she probably did not expect <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/15/angelina-jolie-threats-land-of-blood-and-honey" title="">physical threats, which were apparently made against her and several members of the cast</a>. If, however, we put these aside, there are a few things that any artist deciding to fictionalise any war in any form should be aware of.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/17/bosnia-in-the-land-of-blood-and-honey">Continue reading...</a>Bosnia-HerzegovinaEuropeWorld newsSerbiaWar crimesAngelina JolieFilmDramaIn the Land of Blood and HoneyFri, 17 Feb 2012 19:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/17/bosnia-in-the-land-of-blood-and-honeyMISCEVIC MARKO/CROPIX/SIPA / Rex/Miscevic Marko/CROPIX/SIPA/RexIn the Land of Blood and Honey, directed by Angelina Jolie (above), focuses on the relationship between a Muslim artist and a Serbian police officer in Bosnia. Photograph: MISCEVIC MARKO/CROPIX/SIPA / Rex/Miscevic Marko/CROPIX/SIPA/RexMISCEVIC MARKO/CROPIX/SIPA / Rex/Miscevic Marko/CROPIX/SIPA/RexIn the Land of Blood and Honey, directed by Angelina Jolie (above), focuses on the relationship between a Muslim artist and a Serbian police officer in Bosnia. Photograph: MISCEVIC MARKO/CROPIX/SIPA / Rex/Miscevic Marko/CROPIX/SIPA/RexSlavenka Drakulić2012-02-17T19:30:00ZSerbia has bowed to homophobia| Diamond Walidhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/07/serbia-homophobia-gay-pride-parade
Cancelling a gay pride parade to avoid bloodshed robs gay and lesbian Serbs of a rare chance to step out of the shadows<p>By cancelling a gay pride parade scheduled for last Sunday, Serbian authorities have surrendered to the threats of hooligans and neo-fascist groups.</p><p>Just two days before the event, interior minister Ivica Dacic suddenly announced that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15134182" title="BBC: Serbia bans gay pride parade citing violence fears">it had been banned</a>, along with a number of counter-demonstrations. &quot;Because of these rallies – above all the anti-parade protests – we could expect enormous damage to public order and peace,&quot; he explained.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/07/serbia-homophobia-gay-pride-parade">Continue reading...</a>SerbiaLGBT rightsEuropeWorld newsThe far rightSexualityFri, 07 Oct 2011 07:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/07/serbia-homophobia-gay-pride-paradeSzilard Koszticsak/EPAProtesters oppose the cancellation of a gay pride march at the Serbian embassy in Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: Szilard Koszticsak/EPASzilard Koszticsak/EPAProtesters oppose the cancellation of a gay pride march at the Serbian embassy in Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: Szilard Koszticsak/EPADiamond Walid2011-10-07T07:00:01ZMuammar Gaddafi and the justice tyrants face | Mark Vlasichttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/01/muammar-gaddafi-justice-libya
If the Libyan dictator is taken alive, Libyans will decide how he will be tried. We forget how recent a historical precedent this is<p>When Interpol announced its &quot;red notice&quot; <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/09/09/interpol-issues-top-alert-for-arrest-qaddafi/">arrest warrants for Muammar Gaddafi and his son, Saif al-Islam</a>, it served as a reminder that if&nbsp;they are&nbsp;captured, it won't just be the Libyan rebels knocking at the Gaddafi door, but also the knock of justice. Times have changed since &quot;Brother Leader&quot; took power in 1969. Back in the 20th century, and for all the centuries before it, no head of state had ever been brought to justice for war crimes. But in this new century, the drumbeat of justice has gotten louder – and it has taken its toll on some of the most infamous dictators of our time.</p><p>Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein and Charles Taylor never thought they'd find themselves in the dock – but they did. And if Gaddafi is captured alive, whether he will be tried at home or abroad, justice will be served; and the impunity so often enjoyed by dictators of the past will find itself in &quot;the dustbin of history&quot;.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/01/muammar-gaddafi-justice-libya">Continue reading...</a>Muammar GaddafiSaif al-Islam GaddafiLibyaArab and Middle East unrestMiddle East and North AfricaInternational criminal courtInternational criminal justiceLawWorld newsWar crimesHuman rightsRwandaSerbiaSlobodan Milosevic trialCharles TaylorSaddam HusseinSierra LeoneSat, 01 Oct 2011 15:29:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/01/muammar-gaddafi-justice-libyaMax Rossi/REUTERSFormer Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Rome in 2009; if captured alive, Gaddafi likely faces a tribunal prosecution in Libya for crimes against humanity. Photograph: Reuters/Max RossiMax Rossi/REUTERSLibya's leader Muammar Gaddafi looks on during a news conference at the Quirinale Palace in Rome in this June 10, 2009 file photo. Libyan government tanks and snipers put up scattered, last-ditch resistance in Tripoli on August 22, 2011 after rebels swept into the heart of the capital, cheered on by crowds hailing the end of Gaddafi's 42 years in power. REUTERS/Max Rossi/Files (ITALY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY IMAGES OF THE DAY CONFLICT)
:rel:d:bm:GM1E78M1JID01 Photograph: Max Rossi/REUTERSMark Vlasic2011-10-01T15:29:00ZKosovo's recklessness has set back negotiations with Serbia | Andrea Capusselahttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/25/north-kosovo-police-raid
A failed Kosovan police raid on border posts between north Kosovo and Serbia has destabilised the region<p>Last month, on the night of 25 July, special units of <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-26/kosovo-police-take-control-of-border-in-serb-dominated-north-1-.html" title="Bloomberg: Kosovo police take control of border in Serb-dominated area">Kosovo's police tried to take control of the two border posts</a> linking north Kosovo with Serbia, to enforce a trade embargo.</p><p>This was an extremely rash move, because <a href="http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/north-kosovo-still-a-powder-keg-serbian-minister/" title="AlterNet: North Kosovo still a 'powder keg' - Serbian minister">north Kosovo</a> is inhabited by about 60,000 ethnic Serbs, who fiercely reject Kosovo's secession from Serbia. It is a largely lawless, self-governed territory where the Pristina government has no presence and only Belgrade and Nato exercise some control.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/25/north-kosovo-police-raid">Continue reading...</a>KosovoSerbiaUS foreign policyNatoEuropeEuropean UnionWorld newsThu, 25 Aug 2011 13:33:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/25/north-kosovo-police-raidHANNIBAL HANSCHKE / POOL/EPAA US soldier guards the border north of Leposavic, in northern Kosovo. Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/Pool/EPAHANNIBAL HANSCHKE / POOL/EPAA US soldier guards the border north of Leposavic, in northern Kosovo. Photograph: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE / POOL/EPAAndrea Capussela2011-08-25T13:33:57ZLibya's besieged journalists stir memories of Sarajevo | Janine di Giovannihttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/24/libya-besieged-journalists
The journalists holed up in Tripoli's Rixos hotel will be suffering the same frustration and claustrophobia I felt in Bosnia<p>Sarajevo, winter 1993. The eminent New York Times reporter <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/b/john_f_burns/index.html" title="New York Times: John F Burns">John Burns</a> and the equally brave <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Gutman" title="Wikipedia: Roy Gutman">Roy Gutman</a> of Newsday have won the Pulitzer prize – the highest award given to journalists – for their work in Bosnia. There is a good deal of gracious camaraderie, cheering and celebrating, as much as wartime allows. But the two can't go the awards ceremony back in America, because they are stuck in the besieged city of Sarajevo. More to the point, they are chained to the hotel where the journalists live: the Holiday Inn, a grim Soviet-style place smack in the middle of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniper_Alley" title="Wikipedia: Sniper's Alley">Sniper's Alley</a>.</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/24/libya-besieged-journalists">Continue reading...</a>LibyaJournalist safetyMediaSerbiaBosnia-HerzegovinaArab and Middle East unrestMiddle East and North AfricaAfricaEuropeWorld newsWed, 24 Aug 2011 14:13:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/24/libya-besieged-journalistsPaul Hackett/ReutersJournalists gather in the basement at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Photograph: Paul Hackett/ReutersPaul Hackett/ReutersJournalists gather in the basement at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Photograph: Paul Hackett/ReutersJanine di Giovanni2011-08-24T14:13:20ZGoran Hadzic's prosecution: international justice at last | Mark Vlasichttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/aug/13/goran-hadzic-war-crimes
The capture of the last individual indicted for war crimes in the Balkans is a milestone for the UN war crimes tribunal<p>The timing couldn't have been more auspicious. Just days after <a href="http://www.internationaljusticeproject.com/2011/07/08/international-justice-day/">International Justice Day</a> (the anniversary of the International Criminal Court's treaty adoption), <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/world/europe/21goran-hadzic.html">justice caught up with Goran Hadzic</a>, the UN war crimes tribunal's last remaining indictee. </p><p>On the run for seven years, Hadzic, whose charges include the slaughter of hundreds Croats and other non-Serbs from Vukovar hospital in 1991, was identified and arrested not for another violent act against non-Serbs, but for his illicit dealings in Italian art. The man behind one of the most infamous massacres during the war in the Balkans, the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2988304.stm">Vukovar massacre</a>, was brought down after he attempted to sell allegedly plundered art – in this case, a <a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/goran_hadzic_modern_art_mystery_modigliani/24273526.html">Portrait of a Man, by 20th-century Italian painter, Amedeo Modigliani</a>. The last time the spotlight focused on Hadzic, he was the president of republic of Serbian Krajina, in Serb-controlled Croatia. Once powerful, arrogant and seemingly invincible, despite a UN indictment for 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and after years on the run, the former president, it seems, was reduced to peddling stolen art to survive.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/aug/13/goran-hadzic-war-crimes">Continue reading...</a>War crimesInternational criminal courtInternational criminal justiceUnited NationsSerbiaHuman rightsLawSat, 13 Aug 2011 16:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/aug/13/goran-hadzic-war-crimesRanko Cukovic/ReutersGoran Hadzic (wearing beret), Serbia's last major war crimes fugitive, captured in July 2011. Photograph: Ranko Cukovic/ReutersRanko Cukovic/ReutersGoran Hadzic, Serbia's last major war crimes fugitive. Photograph: Ranko Cukovic/ReutersMark Vlasic2011-08-13T16:00:00Z